I'm having trouble figuring out which of the two is better for me to create a vinyl recording at the highest volume without clipping.

I capture a record via my preamp into Audacity, and I get what seem to be relatively low levels even though I make sure the levels are right when I record (Peak: -6.4db, RMS -24.6db). Am I doing something wrong? Or are those levels right? These recordings don't seem as loud as mastered CDs.

Anyway, to get the most accurate sound possible, should I use normalize or just increase the volume? If normalizing makes everything sound the same at a peak level, doesn't that completely screw with the dynamic range of the music?

No you're not crazy, just know that 32 bits for vinyl is complete overkill. Even 24 bits is overkill as a delivery format.

With the exception of feedback, you are hard-pressed to provide objective evidence showing that a delivery format of 16-bits, properly dithered, cannot fully provide every audible nuance found on even the most pristine copy of vinyl. If you like feedback, you should be able to capture whatever amount is present when listening while recording.

This post has been edited by greynol: Jul 7 2011, 22:46

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Breath is found in waveform and spectral plots;DR figures too, of course.